The current economic downturn has a "green" lining: reduced consumption is cutting environmental impact almost across the board, scaling back carbon dioxide emissions and trash piles as people drive less, buy less, and pluck more goods out of neighborhood yard sales and on-line swap shops before they get redirected to the dump. These are good […]

A new social networking forum called "The Prevention Agenda" is urging President-Elect Obama to do what few other presidential administrations have done in recent history: make preventing threats to the environment and human health a top priority. The forum is amassing recommendations to prevent climate change, toxic exposures, food contamination, water pollution and other dangers that affect both people and the planet. The […]

I celebrated the very first Earth Day as a high school senior in 1970. As students across the U.S. buried polluting automobiles, decried oil spills that were fouling pristine beaches, and protested nuclear power plants, I thought it would be only a matter of months before Americans would come to their senses and adopt an ethic focused on […]

Citizens in my town of Takoma Park, MD are asking the city council to ban gas-powered leaf blowers because they are so noisy and generate so much air pollution. If the council agrees, our community will join many others around the U.S. that believe it is cleaner and healthier to rake leaves rather than blow them into […]

In honor of its upcoming 70th anniversary, Glamour magazine is featuring 70 women whom they consider to be environmental leaders. I was honored to be included in the group, along with Laurie David, who produced "An Inconvenient Truth" for Al Gore, renowned organic chef Alice Waters, film star Alicia Silverstone, and top model Christie Brinkley. […]

With the presidential race getting down to the wire, I took to the streets of Alexandria, VA today to knock on doors and talk to undecided voters about the environmental differences between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. It was easy to draw a distinction between the two candidates. Sen. McCain’s lifetime rating on […]

Here are the top ten tips for a “green” Halloween. They’ll save you money, too! 1. Reuse costumes. Tap into the treasures hidden in your closet or attic to pull together a fun, no-cost costume (it won’t take any longer than going to the mall, and will be a lot cheaper). Trade costumes with friends […]

When my computer’s hard drive crashed this week, every techie I talked to said it was too fried to be rebuilt. So I did some quick research and headed over to Best Buy for a replacement. In case you haven’t been there recently, there are MOUNTAINS of computers to choose from. The salesman was going […]